The Three Most Common Training Traps

So many people get stuck trying to "fix" the behavior they can see—the barking, the lunging, the ignoring, the overreaction. They might not realize they are making a mistake in how they address it.

Mistake #1: Not Knowing How to Break Things Down

If your dog loses their marbles when someone comes to the door, how can we break that down? The trick isn't just in the behaviour, but in the emotions and how we ask our dogs to cope. The Relaxation Protocol is great, but it doesn't break things down enough for those Big Feelings dogs.

What if your dog is reactive to kids? Before we can ask them to relax near kids, we might need to give them an alternative behavior they can choose when they are worried about kids—like Bravery Boxes.​

Always consider emotions—especially with frustrated or fearful dogs.

And remember: Be a splitter, not a lumper. (Thank you, Bob Bailey.)

Mistake #2: Managing Instead of Teaching Calm

A lot of people work on getting a responsive dog in spite of a trigger—passing another dog without a reaction, for instance. That's a great management skill, but the real fix is teaching your dog not to get aroused in the first place. Less sexy, but critical.

Teaching your dog not to look at the thing? Also a useful management game—but it doesn't fix anything. And if it's taught using leash corrections or high-value food, it can actually create bigger reactions if we're not careful.

Mistake #3: Treating the Behavior as the Problem

Often the real issue isn't the problem we are seeing, there is a hole in your dog's training or foundations.

Common root causes:

• Fear or anxiety → Build confidence
• Lack of self-control → This is a training issue! Many people skip self-control work, but for Big Feelings dogs, it's absolutely critical.
• Frustration → Teach frustration tolerance (which is really just… self-control 😉)

If your dog loves food or toys, there are so many fun games to teach the skill of self control. If your dog loves the outdoors, other dogs, or going for walks—you can teach it there too.

Exactly how you do this depends on your specific dog.

The more specific you get, the more effective you can be. Set goals—short-term, medium-term, long-term.

Stop asking, "How do I stop this?"

Start asking, "How do I prevent this? What's underneath it? What skill is missing?"

That's where real change starts.

Interested in learning more? Check out the newest podcast episode:

Want to stay up to date for the July launch of Dream Dog?